UFC 127 Play-by-Play: Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera

Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera

Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera

Round 1:No touch of the gloves for these two. Rivera comes out firing punches. Bisping kind of hanging back, looking for the counter. Rivera lands a hard right, but Bisping times it and takes him down, but they’re right back to their feet. Rivera lands a hard right that slightly stuns Bisping. He recovers and takes Rivera down, landing in his full guard. Bisping lands some solid ground and pound, stands up, and then nails Rivera with a knee to the head while Rivera is still clearly on both knees on the mat. The doctor comes in to check Rivera. He stands up and tells the referee he can continue. Bisping has a point deducted and they continue the fight. They start up and Rivera immediately lands a couple good punches. He stuffs a Bisping takedown. They both continue throwing, but neither really landing, but then Bisping scores another takedown, again into Rivera’s full guard. Bisping lands a couple hard shots. Rivera gets up and Bisping lands a couple more before the bell. MMAWeekly.com scores round one 9-9 due to Bisping losing a point.

Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera

Round 2:Rivera immediately lands a right hand that sends Bisping to his backside. The Brit gets right back up, however. Bisping comes back strong, landing several hard punches that rock Rivera. He then drives some knees to the body and continues with the punch combinations, driving Rivera to one knee. Bisping keeps punching and the referee steps in and stops the fight.